Peter tells us that if any suffer as a Christian he is to glorifie God for it 1 Pet. 4. 16. There is such a force and vertue in the testimony of a good Conscience as is able to change the greatest suffering into the greatest triumph and that testimony we can never have more clear and lively then when we suffer for righteousnes sake so that you see Christianity is very amiable even in its saddest dress the inward comforts of it do far surpass all the outward tribulations that attend it and that even in the instant while we are in the state of warfare upon earth But then if we look forward to the crown of our victories those eternal rewards in heaven we can never think those tasks sad though we had nothing at present to sweeten them that have such recompences await them at the end were our labours never so heavy we could have no cause to faint under them Let us therefore when ever we meet with any discouragements in our course fix our eye on this rich prize and then run with patience the race which is set before us Heb. 12. 2. Follow the Captain of our salvation through the greatest sufferings yea even through the same red sea of blood which he hath waded whenever our obedience to him shall require it for though our fidelity to him should bring us to death it self we are sure to be no losers by it for to such he hath promised a Crown of life the very expectation whereof is able to keep a Christian more cheerful in his fetters and dungeon then a worldling can be in the midst of his greatest prosperities 22. All that remains for me farther to add is earnestly to entreat and beseech the Reader that without delay he puts himself into this so pleasant and gainful a course by setting sincerely to the practise of all those things which either by this Book or by any other means he discerns to be his duty and the further he hath formerly gone out of his way the more haste it concerns him to make to get into it and to use the more diligence in walking in it He that hath a long journey to go and finds he hath lost a great part of his day in a wrong way will not need much intreaty either to turn into the right or to quicken his pace in it And this is the case of all those that have lived in any course of sin they are in a wrong road which will never bring them to the place they aim at Nay which will certainly bring them to the place they most fear and abhor much of their day is spent how much will be left to finish their journey in none knowes perhaps the next hour the next minute the night of death may overtake them what a madness is it then for them to defer one moment to turn out of that path which leads to certain destruction and to put themselves in that which will bring them to bliss and glory Yet so are men bewitched and enchanted with the deceitfulness of sin that no entreaty no perswasion can prevail with them to make this so reasonable so necessary a change not but that they acknowledge it needful to be done but they are unwilling to do it yet they would enjoy all the pleasures of sin as long as they live then they hope at their death or some little time before it to do all the business of their Souls But alass Heaven is too high to be thus jumpt into the way to it is a long and leasurely ascent which requires time to walk The hazards of such deferring are more largely spoken of in the Discourse of Repentance I shall not here repeat them but desire the Reader seriously to lay them to heart and then surely he will think it seasonable counsel that is given by the wise man Eccles. 5. 7. Make no tarrying to turn to the Lord and put not off from day to day FINIS PRIVATE DEVOTIONS For several OCCASIONS ORDINARY and EXTRAORDINARY LONDON Printed for T. Garthwait at the little North Door of S. Pauls Church 1660. CHRISTIAN READER I Have for the help of thy Devotions set down some FORMS of PRIVATE PRAYER upon several occasions If it be thought an omâ—ssion that there are none for Families I must answer for my self that it was not from any opinion that God is not as well to be worship'd in the Family as the Closet but because the Providence of God and the Church hath already furnish'd thee for that purpose infinitely beyond what my utmost care could do I mean the PUBLICK LITURGY or COMMON PRAYER which for all publick addresses to God and such are Family prayers are so excellent useful that we may say of it as David did of Goliah's sword 1 Sam. 21. 9. There is none like it DIRECTIONS for the MORNING As soon as ever thou awakest in the morning lift up thy heart to God in this or the like short Prayer LORD As thou hast awaked my Body from sleep so by thy grace awaken my Soul from sin and make me so to walk before thee this day and all the rest of my life that when the last trumpet shall awake me out of my grave I may rise to the life immortal through Jesus Christ. WHen thou hast thus begun suffer not without some urgent necessity any worldly thoughts to fill thy mind till thou hast also paid thy more solemn Devotions to Almighty God and therefore during the time thou art dressing thy self which should be no longer then common decency requires exercise thy mind in some spiritual thoughts as for example consider to what Temptations thy business or company that day are most like to lay thee open and arm thy self with Resolutions against them or again consider what Occasions of doing service to God or good to thy neighbour are that day most likely to present themselves and resolve to embrace them and also contrive how thou mayest improve them to the uttermost But especially it will be sit for thee to Examine whether there have any sin escaped thee since thy last nights examination If after these considerations any further leisure remain thou mayest profitably imploy it in meditating on the general Resurrection whereof our rising from our beds is a Representation and of that dreadful Judgement which shall follow it and then think with thy self in what preparation thou art for it and resolve to husband caâ—â—fully every minute of thy time towards the fitting thâ—e for that great account As soon as thou art ready retire to some private place and there offer up to God thy Morning Sacrifice of Praise and Prayer PRAYERS for the MORNING At thy first kneeling down say O Holy Blessed and Glorious Trinity three Persons and one God have mercy upon me a miserable sinner LORD I know not what to pray for as I ought O let thy Spirit help my infirmities and enable me to offer up a spiritual
of those sins which have provoked thy Judgements that thou also mayest turn and repent and leave a blessing behinde thee Bless those whom thou hast appointed our Governours whether in Church or State so rule their hearts and strengthen their hands that they may neither want will nor power to punish wickedness and vice and to maintain Gods true Religion and Vertue Have pity O Lord on all that are in affliction be a Father to the fatherless and plead the cause of the widow comfort the feeble minded support the weak heal the sick relieve the needy defend the oppressed and administer to every one according to their several necessities let thy blessings rest upon all that are near and dear to me and grant them whatsoever thou seest necessary either to their bodies or their Souls Here name thy neerest Relations Reward all those that have done me good and pardon all those that have done or wisht me evil and work in them and me all that good which may make us acceptable in thy sight through Jesus Christ. For PRESERVATION OMerciful God by whose bounty alone it is that I have this day added to my life I beseech thee so to guide me in it by thy grace that I may do nothing which may dishonour thee or wound my own soul but that I may deligently apply my self to do all such good works as thou hast prepared for me to walk in and Lord I beseech thee give thy Angels charge over me to keep me in all my wayes that no evil happen unto me nor any plague come nigh my dwelling but that I and mine may be safe under thy gracious protection through Jesus Christ. O Lord pardon the wandrings and coldness of these petitions and dâ—al with me not according either to my prayers or deserts but according to my needs and thine own rich mercies in Jesus Christ in whose blessed Name and Words I conclude these my imperfect Prayers saying Our Father c. DIRECTIONS for NIGHT. AT NIGHT when it draws towards the time of rest bethink thy self how thou hast passed the day examine thine own heart what sin either of Thought Word or Deed thou hast committed what opportunity of doing good thou hast omitted and what soever thou sindest to accuse thy self of confess humbly and penitently to God renew thy purposes and resolutions of amendment and beg his pardon in Christ and this not slightly and only as of course but with all devout earnestness and heartiness as thou wouldest do if thou were sure thy death were as near approaching as thy sleep which for ought thou knowest may be so indeed and therefore thou shouldest no more venture to sleep unreconciled to God then thou wouldest dare to die so In the next place consider what special and extraordinary mercies thou hast that day received as if thou hast had any great deliverance either in thy inward man from some dangerous temptations or in thy outward from any great and apparent danger and offer to God thy hearty and devout praise for the same or if nothing extraordinary have so happened and thou hast been kept even from the approach of danger thou hast not the less but the greater cause to magnifie God who hath by his protection so guarded thee that not so much as the fear of evil hath assaulted thee And therefore omit not to pay him the tribute of humble thankfulness as well for his usual and dayly preservations as his more extraordinary deliverances And above all endeavour still by the considerations of his mercies to have thy heart the more closely knit to him remembring that every favour received from him is a new engagement upon thee to love and obey him PRAYERS for NIGHT. O Holy blessed and glorious Trinity three persons and one God have mercy upon me a miserable sinner Lord I know not what to pray for as I ought O let thy Spirit help my infirmities and enable me to offer up a spiritual Sacrifice acceptable unto thee by Jesus Christ. A CONFESSION O MOST Holy Lord God who art of purer eyes then to behold iniquity how shall I abominable wretch dare to appear before thee who am nothing but pollution I am defiled in my very nature having a backwardness to all good and a readiness to all evil but I have defiled my self yet much worse by my own actual sins and wicked customes I have transgrest my duty to thee my neighbour and my self and that both in thought in word in deed by doing those things which thou hast expresly forbidden and by neglecting to do those things thou hast commanded me And this not only through ignorance and frailty but knowingly and wilfully against the motions of thy Spirit and the checks of my own conscience to the contrary And to make all these out of measure sinful I have gone on in a dayly course of repeating these provocations against thee notwithstanding all thy calls to and my own purposes and vows of amendment yea this very day I have not ceased to adde new sins to all my former guilts Here name the Particulars And now O Lord what shall I say or how shall I open my mouth seeing I have done these things I know that the wages of these sins is death but O thou who willest not the death of a sinner have mercy upon me work in me I beseech thee a sincere contrition and a perfect hatred of my sins and let me not dayly confess and yet as dayly renew them but grant O Lord that from this instant I may give a bill of Divorce to all my most beloved lusts and then be thou pleased to marry me to thy self in truth in righteousness and holiness And for all my past sins O Lord receive a reconciliation accept of that ransome thy blessed Son hath paid for me and for his sake whom thou hast set forth as a propitiation pardon all my offences and receive me to thy favour And when thou hast thus spoken peace to my soul Lord keep me that I turn not any more to folly but so establish me with thy grace that no temptation of the world the Divel or my own flesh may ever draw me to offend thee that being made free from sin and becoming a servant unto God I may have my fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life through Jesus Christ our Lord. A THANKSGIVING O Thou Father of Mercies who art kind even to the unthankful I acknowledge my self to have abundantly experimented that gracious propertie of thine for notwithstanding my dayly provocations against thee thou still heapest mercy and loving kindness upon me All my contempts and despisings of thy spiritual favours have not yet made thee withdraw them but in the riches of thy goodness and long suffering thou still continuest to me the offers of grace and life in thy Son And all my abuses of thy temporal blessings thou hast not punished with an utter deprivation of them but art still pleased to afford me
ties you to this so Mercy doth likewise you know the poor Soul will fall into Endless and unspeakable Miseries if you continue to neglect it and then it will be too late to consider it The Last Refuge you can hope for is Gods mercy but that you have despised and abused And with what face can you in your greatest need beg for his mercy to your Souls when you would not afford them your own No not that common Charity of considering them of bestowing a few of those idle Hours you know not scarce how to pass away upon them 29. Lay this to your hearts and as ever you hope for Gods pity when you most want it be sure in time to Pity your selves by taking that due Care of your precious Souls which belongs to them 30. If what hath been said have perswaded you to this so necessary a Duty my next work will be to tell you how this Care must be imployed and that in a word is in the Doing of all those things which tend to the making the Soul Happy which is the end of our Care and what those are I come now to show you PARTITION I. Of the DUTY of MAN by the Light of Nature by the Light of Scripture Of FAITH the Promises of Hope of Love c. THE Benefits purchased for us by Christ are such as will undoubtedly make the Soul Happy for Eternal Happiness it self is one of them but because these Benefits belong not to us till we perform the Condition required of us whoever desires the happiness of his Soul must set himself to the performing of that Condition what that is I have already mentioned in the General That it is the hearty honest endeavour of obeying the whole Will of God But then that Will of God containing under it many particulars it is necessary we should also know what those are that is what are the several things that God now requires of us our performance whereof will bring us to everlasting happiness and the neglect to endless misery 2. Of these things there are some which God hath so stamp'd upon our souls that we Naturally knew them that is we should have known them to be our Duty though we had never been told so by the Scripture That this is so we may see by those Heathens who having never heard of either Old or New Testament do yet acknowledge themselves bound to some General Duties as to Worship God to be Just to Honour their Parents and the like And as S. Paul saith Rom. 2. 15. Their consciences do in those things accuse or excuse them That is tell them whether they have done what they should in those particulars or no. 3. Now though Christ have brought greater Light into the world yet he never meant by it to put out any of that Natural light which God hath set up in our Souls Therefore let me here by the way advise you not to walk contrary even to this lesser light I mean not to venture on any of those Acts which meer Natural Conscience will tell you are Sins 4. It is just matter of sadness to any Christian heart to see some in these dayes who profess much of Religion and yet live in such sins as a meer heathen would abhor men that pretending to higher degrees of Light and holiness then their brethren do yet practice contrary to all Rules of common honesty and make it part of their Christian liberty so to do of whose Seducement it concerns all that love their Souls to beware and for that purpose let this be laid as a Foundation That that Religion or Opinion cannot be of God which allows men in any wickedness 5. But though we must not put out this light which God hath thus put into our Souls yet this is not the onely way whereby God hath revealed his will and therefore we are not to rest here but proceed to the knowledg of those other things which God hath by other means revealed 6. The way for us to come to know them is by the SCRIPTURES wherein are set down those several commands of God which he hath given to be the Rule of our Duty 7. Of those some were given before Christ came into the world such are those precepts we finde scattered throughout the Old Testament but especially contained in the Ten Commandements and that excellent book of Deuteronomy others were given by Christ who added much both to the Law implanted in us by Nature and that of the Old Testament and those you shall find in the New Testament in the several precepts given by him and his Apostles but especially in that Divine Sermon on the Mount set down in the fifth sixth and seventh Chapters of S. Matthews Gospel 8. All these should be severally spoke to but because that would make the discourse very long and so lesse fit for the meaner sort of men for whose use alone it is intended I chuse to proceed in another manner By summing all these together and so as plainly as I can to lay down what is now the duty of every Christian. 9. This I find briefly contain'd in the words of the Apostle Tit. 2. 12. That we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world where the word Soberly contains our duty to our selves Righteously our duty to our neghbour and Godly our duty to God These therfore shall be the Heads of my discourse our DUTY to GOD our SELVES and our NEIGHBOUR I begin with that to God that being the best ground-work whereon to build both the other 10. There are many parts of our DUTY to GOD The two chief are these First to acknowledge him to be God Secondly to have no other under these are contained all those particulars which make up our whole duty to God which shall be shewed in their order 11. To acknowledge him to be God is to believe him to be an infinite glorious Spirit that was from everlasting without beginning and shall be to everlasting without end That he is our Creator Redeemer Sanctifier Father Son and Holy-Ghost one God blessed for ever That he is subject to no alterations but is Unchangeable that he is no bodily substance such as our eyes may behold but spiritual and invisible whom no man hath seen nor can see as the Apostle tells us 1 Tim. 3. 16. That He is Infinitely Great and Excellent beyond all that our wit or conceit can imagine that he hath received his being from none and gives being to all things 12. All this we are to believe of him in regard of his Essence and being But besides this he is set forth to us in the Scripture by several Excellencies as that he is of Infinite Goodness and Mercy Truth Justice Wisdom Power All-sufficiency Majesty That he disposes and governes all things by his Providence that he Knowes all things and is Present in all places these are by Divines called the Attributes of God
is a vow that is a promise made to God and therefore we are not only unjust but forsworn when ever we break any part of it 40. But secondly we are also highly concern'd to keep it in respect of our own benefit I told you before That Baptism entred us into Covenant with God now a Covenant is made up of two parts that is something promised by the one party and something by the other of the parties that make the Covenant And if one of them break his part of the Covenant that is perform not what he hath agreed to he can in no reason look that the other should make good his And so it is here God doth indeed promise those benefits before mentioned and that is his part of the Covenant But then we also undertake to perform the several things contained in this vow of Baptism and that is our part of it and unless we do indeed perform them God is not tyed to make good his and so we forfeit all those precious benefits and advantages we are left in that natural and miserable estate of ours children of wrath enemies to God and heirs of eternal damnation And now what can be the pleasure that any or all sins can afford us that can make us the least degree of recompence for such a loss the loss of Gods favour and grace here and the loss of our own souls hereafter for as our Saviour saith Mark 8. 36. What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul yet this mad bargain we make when ever we break any part of this our vow of Baptism It therefore most neerly concerns us to consider sadly of it to remember that every sin we commit is a direct breach of this vow and therefore when thou art tempted to any sin seem it never so light say not of it as Lot did of Zoar Gen. 6. 20. Is it not a little one but consider that what ever it is thou hast in thy Baptism vowed against it and then be it never so little it draws a great one at the heels of it no lesse then that of being forsworn which whoever commits God hath in the third Commandement pronounced He will not hold him guiltless And that we may the better keep this vow it will be very useful often to repeat to our selves the several branches of it that so we may still have it ready in our mindes to set against all temptations and surely it is so excellent a weapon that if we do not either cast it aside or use it very negligently it will enable us by Gods help to put to flight our spiritual adversary And this is that reverence we are to pay to this first Sacrament that of Baptism PARTITION III. Of the LORDS SUPPER of Preparation before of Duties to be done at the Receiving and afterwards c. § 1. NOW follows the Reverence due to the Sacrament of the Lords Supper and in this I must follow my first division and set down first what is to be done before secondly at and thirdly after the time of receiving for in this Sacrament we cannot be excused from any one of these though in the former we are 2. And first for that which is to be done before S. Paul tells us it is examination 1 Cor. 11. 28. But let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. But before I proceed to the particulars of this Examination I must in the general tell you that the special business we have to do in this Sacrament is to repeat and renew that Covenant we make with God in our Baptism which we having many wayes grievously broken it pleases God in his great mercy to suffer us to come to the renewing of it in this Sacrament which if we do in sincerity of heart he hath promised to accept us and to give us all those benefits in this which he was ready to bestow in the other Sacrament if we had not by our own fault forfeited them Since then the renewing of our Covenant is our business of this time it followes that these three things are necessary towards it First that we understand what that Covenant is Secondly that we consider what our breaches of it have been and Thirdly that we resolve upon a strict observance of it for the rest of our life And the trying our selves in every one of these particulars is that Examination which is required of us before we come to this Sacrament 3. And first we are to examine whether we understand what this Covenant is this is exceeding necessary as being the foundation of both the other for it is neither possible to discover our past sins nor to settle purposes against them for the future without it Let this therefore be your first businesse Try whether you rightly understand what that Covenant is which you entred into at your Baptism what be the Mercies promised on Gods part and the duties on yours And because the Covenant made with each of us in Baptism is only the applying to our particulars the Covenant made by God in Christ with all mankinde in general you are to consider whether you understand that if you do not you must immediately seek for instruction in it And till you have means of gaining better look over what is briefly said in the entrance to this Treatise concerning the SECOND COVENANT which is the foundation of that Covenant which God makes with us in our Baptism And because you will there finde that obedience to all Gods Commands is the condition required of us and is also that which we expresly Vow in our Baptism it is necessary you should likewise know what those Commands of God are Therefore if you finde you are ignorant of them never be at rest till you have got your self instructed in them and have gained such a measure of knowledge as may direct you to do that Whole Duty of Man which God requires And the giving thee this instruction is the only aim of This Book which the more ignorant thou art the more earnestly I shall intreat thee diligently to read And if thou hast heretofore approacht to this Holy Sacrament in utter ignorance of these necessary things bewail thy sin in so doing but presume not to come again till thou have by gaining this necessary knowledg fitted thy self for it which thou must hasten to do For though no man must come to the Sacrament in such ignorance yet if he wilfully continue in it that will be no excúse to him for keeping from this holy Table 4. The second part of our Examination is concerning our breaches of this Covenant and here thou wilt finde the use of that knowledge I spake of For there is no way of discovering what our sins have been but by trying our actions by that which should be the rule of them the Law of God When therefore
the Apostle saith Rom. 1. 31. We do not only do the things but take pleasure in them that do them and therefore intice and draw as many as we can into the same sins with us Then it is risen to the highest step of wickedness and is to be look't on as the utmost degree both of sin and danger Thus you see how you are to examine your selves concerning your sins in each of which you are to consider how many of these heightning circumstances there have been that so you may aright measure the hainousness of them 7. Now the end of this Examination is to bring you to such a sight of your sins as may truly humble you make you sensible of your own danger that have provoked so great a Majesty who is able so sadly to revenge himself upon you And that will surely even to the most carnal heart appear a reasonable ground of sorrow But that is not all it must likewise bring you to a sense and abhorrence of your basenesse and ingratitude that have thus offended so good and graecious a God that have made such unworthy and unkind returnes to those tender and rich mercies of his And this consideration especially must melt your hearts into a deep sorrow and contrition the degree whereof must be in some measure answerable to the degree of your sinnes And the greater it is provided it be not such as shuts up the hope of Gods Mercy the more acceptable it is to God who hath promised not to despise a broken and contriâ—e heart Psalm 51. 17. And the more likely it will be also to bring us to amendment For if we have once felt what the smart of a wounded Spirit is wee shall have the lesse minde to venture upon sin again 8. For when wee are tempted with any of the short pleasures of sinne wee may then out of our owne experience set against them the sharp pains and terrors of an accusing conscience which will to any that hath felt them be able infinitely to outweigh them Endeavour therefore to bring your souls to this melting temper to this deep unfeigned sorrow and that not only for the danger you have brought upon your self for though that be a consideration which may ought to work sadnesse in us yet where that alone is the motive of our sorrow it is not that sorrow which will avail us for pardon and the reason of it is clear for that sorrow proceeds only from the love of our selves we are sorry because we are like to smart But the sorrow of a true penitent must be joyned also with the love of God and that will make us grieve for having offended him though there were no punishment to fall upon our selves The way then to stir up this sorrow in us is first to stir up our love of God by repeating to our selves the many gracious acts of his mercy towards us particularly that of his sparing us and not cutting us off in our sins Consider with thy self how many and how great provocations thou hast offered him perhaps in a continued course of many years wilful disobedience for which thou mightest with perfect justice have been ere this sent quick into hell Nay possibly thou hast before thee many examples of less sinners then thou art who have been suddenly snatcht away in the midst of their sins And what cause canst thou give why thou hast thus long escaped but only because his eye hath spared thee And what cause of that sparing but his tender compassions towards thee his unwillingness that thou should'st perish This consideration if it be prest home upon thy soul cannot chuse if thy heart be not as hard as the nether Milstone but awake somewhat of love in thee towards this gracious this long suffering God and that love will certainly make it appear to thee that it is an evil thing and bitter that thou hast forsaken the Lord Jer. 2. 19. That thou hast made such wretched requitals of so great mercy it will make thee both ashamed and angry at thy self that thou hast been such an unthankful creature But if the consideration of this one sort of mercy Gods forbearance onely be such an engagement and help to this godly sorrow what will then be the multitude of those other mercies which every man is able to reckon up to himself and therefore let every man be as particular in it as he can call to minde as many of them as he is able that so he may attain to the greater degree of true contrition 9. And to all these endeavours must be added earnest prayers to God that he by his holy Spirit would shew you your sins and soften your hearts that you may throughly bewail and lament them 10. To this must be joyned an humble consession of sins to God and that not only in general but also in particular as far as your memory of them will reach and that with all those heightning circumstances of them which you have by the forementioned examination discovered Yea even secret and forgotten sins must in general be acknowledged for it is certain there are multitudes of such so that it is necessary for every one of us to say with David Psal. 19. 12. Who can understand his errors cleanse thou me from my secret faulâ—s When you have thus confest your sins with this hearty sorrow and sincere hatred of them you may then and not before be concluded to feel so much of your disease that it will be seasonable to apply the remedy 11. In the next place therefore you are to look on him whom God hath set forth to be the propitiation of our sins Rom. 3. 25. Even Jesus Christ that Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world John 1. 29. And earnestly beg of God that by his most precious blood your sins may be washed away and that God would for his sake be reconciled to you And this you are to believe will surely be done if you do for the rest of your time forsake your sins and give your selves up sincerely to obey God in all his commands But without that it is vain to hope any benefit from Christ or his sufferings And therefore the next part of your preparation must be the setting those resolutions of obedience which I told you was the third thing you were to examine your selves of before your approach to the holy Sacrament 12. Concerning the particulars of this resolution I need say no more but that it must answer every part and branch of our duty that is we must not only in general resolve that wee will observe Gods Commandments but we must resolve it for every Commandment by itself and especially where we have found our selves most to have failed heretofore there especially to renew our resolutions And herein it neerly concerns us to look that these resolutions be sincere and unfeigned and not only such slight ones as people use
out of custome to put on at their coming to the Sacrament which they never think of keeping afterwards For this is a certain truth that whosoever comes to this holy Table without an entire hatred of every sin comes unworthily and it is as sure that he that doth entirely hate all sin will resolve to forsake it for you know forsaking naturally follows hatred no man willingly abides with a thing or person he hates And therefore he that doth not so resolve as that God the searcher of hearts may approve it as sincere cannot be supposed to hate sin and so cannot be a worthy receiver of that holy Sacrament Therefore try your resolutions throughly that you deceive not your selves in them it is your own great danger if you do for it is certain you cannot deceive God nor gain acceptation from him by any thing which is not perfectly hearty and unfeigned 13. Now as you are to resolve on this new obedience so you are likewise to resolve on the meanes which may assist you in the performance of it And therefore consider in every duty what are the means that may help you in it and resolve to make use of them how uneasie soever they be to your flesh so on the other side consider what things they are that are likely to lead you to sin and resolve to shun and avoid them this you are to do in respect of all sias whatever but especially in those whereof you have formerly been guilty For there it will not be hard for you to finde by what steps and degrees you were drawn into it what company what occasion it was that ensnared you as also to what sort of temptations you are aptest to yield And therefore you must particularly fence your self against the sin by avoiding those occasions of it 14. But it is not enough that you resolve you will do all this hereafter but you must instantly set to it and begin the course by doing at the present whatsoever you have opportunity of doing And there are several things which you may nay must do at the present before you come to the Sacrament 15. As first you must cast off every sin not bring any one unmortified lust with you to that Table for it is not enough to purpose to cast them off afterwards but you must then actually do it by with-drawing all degrees of love and affection from them you must then give a bill of divorce to all your old beloved sins or else you are no fit way to be married to Christ. The reason of this is clear For this Sacrament is our spiritual nourishment now before we can receive spiritual nourishment we must have spiritual life for no man gives food to a dead person But whosoever continues not only in the act but in the love of any one known sin hath no spiritual life but is in Gods account no better then a dead carkass and therefore cannot receive that spiritual food It is true he may eat the bread and drink the wine but he receives not Christ but in stead of him that which is most dreadful the Apostle will tell you what 1 Cor. 11. 29. He eats and drinks his own damnation Therefore you see how great a necessity lies on you thus actually to put off every sin before you come to this Table 16. And the same necessity lies on you for a second thing to be done at this time and that is the putting your soul into a heavenly and Christian temper by possessing it with all those graces which may render it acceptable in the eyes of God For when you have turned out Satan and his accursed train you must not let your soul lie empty if you do Christ tells you Luke 11. 26. He will quickly return again and your last estate shall be worse then your first But you must by earnest prayer invite into it the holy Spirit with his graces or if they be in some degree there already you must pray that he will yet more fully possess it and you must quicken and stir them up 17. As for example you must quicken your humility by considering your many and great sins your Faith by meditating on Gods promises to all penitent sinners your love to God by considering his mercies especially those remembred in the Sacrament his giving Christ to die for us and your love to your neighbour nay to your enemies by considering that great example of his suffering for us that were enemies to him And it is most particularly required of us when we come to this Table that we copy out this patern of his in a perfect forgivenesse of all that have offended us and not only forgivenesse but such a kindnesse also as will express it self in all offices of love and friendship to them 18. And if you have formerly so quite forgot that blessed example of his as to do the direct contrary if you have done any unkindnesse or injury to any person then you are to seek forgivenesse from him and to that end first acknowledge your fault secondly Restore to him to the utmost of your power whatsoever you have deprived him of either in goods or credit This Reconciliation with our brethren is absolutely necessary towards the making any of our services acceptable with God as appears by that precept of Christ Matth. 5. 23 24. If thou bring thy gift to the Altar and there remembrest that thy brother hath ought against thee leave there thy gift before the Altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift Where you see that though the gift be already at the Altar it must rather be left there unoffered then be offered by a man that is not at perfect peace with his neighbour And if this charity be so necessary in all our services much more in this where by a joynt partaking in the same holy mysteries we signifie our being united and knit not only to Christ our head but also to each other as fellow members And therefore if we come with any malice in our hearts we commit an act of the highest Hypocrisie by making a solemn profession in the Sacrament of that charity and brotherly love whereof our hearts are quite void 19. Another most necessary grace at this time is that of devotion for the raising whereof we must allow our selves some time to withdraw from our worldly affairs and wholly to set our selves to this business of preparation one very speciall part of which preparation lyes in raising up our souls to a devout and heavenly temper And to that it is most necessary that we cast off all thoughts of the world for they will be sure as so many clogs to hinder our souls in their mounting towards heaven A special exercise of this devotion is Prayer wherein we must be very frequent and earnest at our coming to the Sacrament this being one great instrument
How much worse then his very crucifiers They crucified him once but thou hast as much as in thee lay crucified him daily They crucified him because they knew him not but thou hast known both what he is in himself The Lord of Glory and what he is to thee a most tender and merciful Saviour and yet thou hast still continued thus to crucifie him afresh Consider this and let it work in thee first a great sorrow for thy sins past and then a great hatred and a firm resolution against them for the time to come 25. When thou hast a while thus thought on these sufferings of Christ for the increasing thy humility and contrition then in the second place think of them again to stir up thy Faith look on him as the sacrifice offered up for thy sins for the appeasing of Gods wrath and procuring his favour and mercies toward thee And therefore believingly yet humbly beg of God to accept of that satisfaction made by his innocent and beloved Son and for the merits thereof to pardon thee whatever is past and to be fully reconciled to thee 26. In the third place consider them again to raise thy thankfulnesse Think how much both of shame and pain he there endured but especially those great agonies of his Soul which drew from him that bitter cry My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Matt. 27. 45. Now all this he suffered only to keep thee from perishing And therefore consider what unexpressible thanks thou owest him and endeavour to raise thy Soul to the most zealous and hearty thanksgiving For this is a principal part of duty at this time the praising and magnifying that mercy which hath redeemed us by so dear a price Therefore it will here well become thee to say with David I will take the Cup of Salvation and will call upon the Name of the Lord. 27. Fourthly look on these sufferings of Christ to stir up this love and surely there cannot be a more effectual means of doing it for here the love of Christ to thee is most manifest according to that of the Apostle 1 John 3. 16. Hereby perceive we the love of God towards us because he laid down his life for us And that even the highest degree of love for as himself tells us John 15. 13. Greater love then this hath no man then that a man lay down his life for his friend Yet even greater love then this had he for he not only died but died the most painful and most reproachful death and that not for his friends but his utter enemies And therefore if after all this love on his part there be no return of love on ours we are worse then the vilest sort of men for even the Publicans Matth. 5. 46. Love those that love them Here therefore chide and reproach thy self that thy love to him is so faint and cool when his to thee was so zealous and affectionate And endeavour to enkindle this holy flame in thy Soul to love him in such a degree that thou mayest be ready to copy out his example to part with all things yea even life it self whenever he calls for it that is whensoever thy obedience to any command of his shall lay thee open to those sufferings But in the mean time to resolve never again to make any league with his enemies to entertain or harbour any sin in thy brest But if there have any such hitherto remained with thee make this the season to kill and crucifie it offer it up at this instant a sacrifice to him who was sacrificed for thee and particularly for that very end that he might redeem thee from all iniquity Therefore here make thy solemn resolutions to forsake every sin particularly those into which thou hast most frequently fallen And that thou mayest indeed perform those resolutions earnestly beg of this crucified Saviour that he will by the power of his death mortifie and kill all thy corruptions 28. When thou art about to receive the Consecrated Bread and Wine remember that God now offers to Seal to thee that New Covenant made with mankinde in his Son For since he gives that his Son in the Sacrament he gives with him all the benefits of that Covenant to wit pardon of sins sanctifying grace and a title to an eternal inheritance And here be astonished at the infinite goodness of God who reaches out to thee so precious a treasure But then remember that this is all but on condition that thou perform thy part of the Covenant And therefore settle in thy soul the most serious purpose of obedience and then with all possible devotion joyn with the Minister in that short but excellent prayer used at the instant of giving the Sacrament The Body of our Lord c. 29. So soon as thou hast received offer up thy devoutest praises for that great mercy together with thy most earnest prayers for such assistance of Gods Spirit as may enable thee to perform the vow thou hast now made Then remembring that Christ is a propitiation not for our sins only but also for the sins of the whâ—le world let thy charity reach as far as his hath done and pray for all mankind that every one may receive the benefit of that sacrifice of his commend also to God the estate of the Church that particularly whereof thou art a Member And forget not to pray for all to whom thou owest obedience both in Church and State and so go on to pray for such particular persons as either thy relations or their wants shall present to thee If there be any Collection for the poor as there always ought to be at this time give freely according to thy ability or if by the default of others there be no such Collection yet do thou privately design something towards the relief of thy poor brethren and be sure to give it the next fitting opportunity that offers it self All this thou must contrive to do in the time that others are receiving that so when the publick prayers after the administration begin thou mayst be ready to ioyn in them which thou must likewise take care to do with all devotion thus much for thy behaviour at the time of receiving 30. Now follows the third and last thing That is what thou art to do after thy receiving That which is immediately to be done is as soon as thou art retirâ—d from the Congregation to offer up again to God thy Sacrafice of praise for all those precious mercies conveyed to thee in that holy Sacrament as also humbly to intreat the continued assistance of his grace to enable thee to make good all those purposes of obedience thou hast now made And in whatsoever thou knowest thy self most in danger either in respect of any former habit or natural inclination there especially desire and earnestly beg his aid 31. When thou hast done thus do not presently let thy self
loose to thy worldly cares and business But spend all that day either in meditating praying reading good conferences or the like so as may best keep up that holy flame that is enkindled in thy heart Afterwards when thy calling requires thee to fall to thy usual affairs do it but yet still remember that thou hast a greater business then that upon thy hands that is the performing of all those promises thou so lately madest to God and therefore whatever thy outward imployments are let thy heart be set on that keep all the particulars of thy resolution in memory and whenever thou art tempted to any of thy old sins then consider this is the thing thou so solemnly vowedst against and withal remember what a horrible guilt it will be if thou shouldst now wilfully do any thing contrary to that vow Yea and what a horrible mischief also it will be to thy self For at thy receiving God and thou entredst into Covenant into a league of friendship and kindness And as long as thou keepest in that friendship with God thou art safe all the malice of men or devils can do thee no harm For as the Apostle saith Rom. 8. 31. If God be for us who can be against us But if thou breakest this league as thou certainly dost if thou yield to any wilful sin then God and thou are enemies and if all the world then were for thee it could not avail thee 32. Nay thou wilt get an enemy with in thine own bosome thy conscience accusing and upbraiding thee and when God and thine own conscience are thus against thee thou canst not but be extremely miserable even in this life besides that fearful expectation of wrâ—â—h which awaits thee in the next Remember all this when thou art set upon by any temptation and then sure thou canst not but look upon that temptation as a cheat that comes to rob thee of thy Peace thy God thy very Soul And then surely it will appear as unfit to entertain it as thou wouldst think it to harbour one in thy house who thou knowest came to rob thee of what is dearest to thee 33. And let not any experience of Gods mercy in pardoning thee heretofore encourage thee again to provoke him for besides that it is the highest degree of wickedness and unthankfulness to make that goodness of his which should lead thee to repentance an encouragement in thy sin Besides this I say the oftner thou hast been pardonâ—d the less reason thou hast to expect it again because thy sin is so much the greater for having been committed against so much mercy If a King have several times pardoned an offender yet if he still return to commission of the same fault the King will at last be forced if he have any love to Justice to give him up to it Now so it is here God is as well just as merciful and his Justice will at last surely and heavily avenge the abuse of his Mercy and there cannot be a greater abuse of his mercy then to sin in hope of it so that it will prove a miÌ„serable deceiving of thy self thus to presume upon it 34. Now this care of making good thy vow must not abide with thee some few days onely and then be cast aside but it must continue with thee all thy days For if thou break thy vow it matters not whether sooner or later Nay perhaps the guilt may in some respects be more if it be late for if thou have for a good while gone on in the observance of it that shews the thing is possible to thee and so thy after breaches are not of insirmity because thou canst not avoid them but of perverseness because thou wilt not Besides the use of Christian-Walking must needs make it more easie to thee For indeed all the difficulty of it is but from the custome of the contrary And therefore if after some acquaintance with it when thou hast overcome somewhat of the hardness thou shalt then give it over it will be most inexcusable Therefore be careful all the days of thy life to keep such a Watch over thy self and so to avoid all occasions of temptations as may preserve thee from all Wilful breaches of this vow 35. But though the obligation of every such single vow reach to the utmost day of our lives yet are we often to renew it that is we are often to receive the holy Saecrament for that being the means of conveighing to us so great and unvaluable benefits and it being also a command of Christ That we should do this in remembrance of him we are in respect both of reason and duty to omit no fit opportunity of partaking of that holy Table I have now shewed you what that reverence is which we are to pay to God in his Sacrament PARTITION IV. HONOUR due to Gods Name Of Sinning against it Blasphemy Swearing Assertory Oaths Promissory Oaths Unlawful Oaths Of Perjury Of vain Oaths and the Sin of them c. § 1. THe last thing wherein we are to express our Reverence to him is the Honouring his Name Now what this Honouring of his Name is we shall best understand by considering what are the things by which it is dishonoured the avoiding of which will be our way of honouring it The first is all Blasphemies or speaking any evil thing of God the highest degree whereof is cursing him or if we do not speak it with our mouths yet if we do it in our hearts by thinking any unworâ—hy thing of Him it is lookt on by God who sees the heart as the vilest dishonour But there is also a blasphemy of the actions that is when men who profess to be the servants of God live so wickedly that they bring up an evil report on him whom they own as their Master and Lord. This Blasphemy the Apostle takes notice of Rom. 2. 24. Where he tells those who profess to be observers of the Law That by their wicked actions the Name of God was blasphemed among the Gentiles Those Gentiles were moved to think ill of God as the favourer of sin when they saw those who called themselves his servants commit it A second way of Dishonouring Gods Name is by swearing and that is of two sorts either by false Oathes or else by rash and light ones A false Oath may also be of two kinds as first that by which I affirm somewhat or secondly that by which I promise The first is when I say such or such a thing was done so or so and confirm this saying of mine with an Oath if then I know there be not perfect truth in what I say this is a flat perjury a downright being forsworn Nay if I swear to the truth of that whereof I am only doubtful though the thing should happen to be true yet it brings upon me the guilt of Perjury for I swear at a venture and
strangers as acquaintance but more particularly those to whom we have any especial Relation either publick as our Governours both in Church and State or private as Parents Husband Wife Children Friends c. We are also to pray for all that are in affliction and such particular persons as we discern especially to be so Yea we are to pray for those that have done us injury those that despightfully use us and persecute us for it is expresly the command of Christ Mat. 5 44. And that whereof he hath likewise given us the highest example in praying even for his very crucifiers Luk. 23. 34. Father forgive them For all these sorts of persons we are to pray and that for the very same good things we beg of God for our selves that God would give them in their several places and callings all spiritual and temporal blessings which he sees wanting to them and turn away from them all evil whether of sin or punishment 8. The fifth part of Prayer is Thanksgiving that is the Praising and Blessing God for all his mercies whether to our own persons and those that immediately relate to us or to the Church and Nation whereof we are members or yet more general to all mankind and this for all his mercies both spiritual and temporal In the Spiritual first for those wherein we are all in common concerned as the giving of his Son the sending of his Spirit and all those means he hath used to bring sinful men unto himself Then secondly for those mercies we have in our own particulars received such are the having been born within the pale of the Church and so brought up in Christian Religion by which we have been partakers of those precious advantages of the Word and Sacraments and so have had without any care or pains of ours the means of eternal life put into our hands But besides these there is none of us but have received other spiritual mercies from God 9. As first Gods patience and long-suffering waiting for our Repentance and not cutting us off in our sins Secondly his calls and invitations of us to that repentance not only outward in the ministry of the Word but also inward by the motions of his Spirit But then if thou be one that hath by the help of Gods grace been wrought upon by these calls and brought from a profane or worldly to a Christian course of life thou art surely in the highest degree tyed to magnifie and praise his goodness as having received from him the greatest of mercies 10. We are likewise to give thanks for Temporal blessings whether such as concern the publick as the prosperity of the Church or Nation and all remarkable deliverances afforded to either or else such as concern our particulars such are all the good things of this life which we enjoy as Health Friends Food Raiment and the like also for those minutely preservations whereby we are by Gods gracious providence kept from danger and the especial deliverances which God hath given us in time of greatest perils It will be impossible to set down the several mercies which every man receives from God because they differ in kind and degree between one man and another But it is sure that he which receives least hath yet enough to imploy his whole life in praises to God And it will be very fit for every man to consider the several passages of this life and the mercies he hath in each received and so to gather a kind of List or Catalogue of them at least the principal of them which he may alwayes have in his memory and often with a thankful heart repeat before God 11. These are the several parts of Prayer and all of them to be used both publickly and privately The publick use of them is first that in the Church where all meet to joyn in those prayers wherein they are in common concerned And this where the prayers are such as they ought to be we should be very constant at there being an especial blessing promised to the joynt requests of the faithful and he that without a necessary cause absents himself from such publick prayers cuts himself off from the Church which hath alwayes been thought so unhappy a thing that it is the greatest punishment the Governours of the Church can lay upon the worst offender and therefore it is a strange madness for men to inflict it upon themselves 12. A second sort of Publick Prayer is that in a Family where all that are members of it joyn in their common supplications and this also ought to be very carefully attended to first by the Master of the Family who is to look that there be such prayers it being as much his part thus to provide for the Souls of his Children and Servants as to provide food for their Bodies Therefore there is none even the meanest housholder but ought to take this care If either himself or any of his Family can read he may use some prayers out of some good book if it be the Service Book of the Church he makes a good choice if they cannot read it will then be necessary they should be taught without Book some form of prayer which they may use in the Family for which purpose again some of the Prayers of the Church will be very fit as being most easie for their memories by reason of their shortness and yet containing a great deal of matter But what choice soever they make of prayers let them be sure to have some and let no man that professes himself a Christian keep so heat henish a Family as not to see God be daily worshipped in it But when the Master of a Family hath done his duty in this providing it is the duty of every member of it to make use of that provision by being constant and diligent at those Family-Prayers 13. Private or secret Prayer is that which is used by a man alone apart from all others wherein we are to be more particular according to our particular needs then in publick it is fit to be And this of private Prayer is a duty which will not be excused by the performance of the other of publick They are both required and one must not be taken in exchange for the other And whoever is diligent in publick prayers and yet negligent in private it is much to be feared he rather seeks to approve himself to men then to God contrary to the command of our Saviour Mat. 6. who enjoynes this private prayer this praying to our Father in secret from whom alone we are to expect our reward and not from the vain praises of men 14. Now this duty of Prayer is to be often performed by none seldomer then Evening and Morning it being most necessary that we should thus begin and end all our works with God and that not only in respect of the duty we owe him but also in respect of
leave our stings in others put them to some present trouble but that compared with the hurt redounds to our selves by it is no more then that inconsiderable pain is to death Nay not so much because the mischiefs that we bring upon our selves are eternal to which no finite thing can bear any proportion Remember then whensoever thou art contriving plotting a revenge that thou quite mistakest the mark thou thinkest to hit thy enemy and alas thou woundest thy self to death And let no man speak peace to himself or think that these are vaâ—n terrors that he may obtain pardon from God though he give none to his brethren For he that is truth it self has assured us the contrary Mat. 6. 15. If ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses And least we should forget the necessity of this duty he has inserted it into our daily Prayers where we make it the condition on which we beg pardon from God Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass againâ—t us What a heavy curse then does every revengful person lay upon himself when he sayes this Prayer he does in effect beg God not to forgive him and 't is too sure that part of his prayer will be heard he shall be forgiven just as he forgives that is not at all This is yet farther set out to us in the parable of the Lord and the Servant Matth. 18. the servant had obtained of his Lord the forgiveness of a vast debt ten thousand talents yet was so cruel to his fellow servant as to exact a poor trifling sum of an hundred pence upon which his Lord recalls his former forgiveness and charges him again with the whole debt and this Christ applies to our present purpose ver 35. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do unto you if ye from your hearts forgive not every man his brother their trespasses One such act of uncharitableness is able to forfeit us the pardon God hath granted us and then all our sins return again upon us and sink us to utter ruine I suppose it needless to heap up more testimonies of Scripture for the truth of this these are so clear as may surely serve to perswade any man that acknowledges Scripture of the great and fearful danger of this sin of uncharitableness The Lord possess all our hearts with such a just sense of it as may make us avoid it The last consideration I shall mention is that of Gratitude God has shewed wonderful mercies to us Christ has suffered heavy things to bring us into a capacity of that mercy and pardon from God And shall we not then think our selves obliged to some returnes of thankfulness If we will take the Apostles judgment he tells us 2 Cor. 5. 15. That since Christ dyed for us all 't is but reasonable that we should not henceforth live unto our selves but unto him that dyed for us Indeed were every moment of our life consecrated to his immediate Service 't were no more then common gratitude requires far less then such inestimable benefits deserve what a shameful unthankfulness is it then to deny him so poor a satisfaction as this the forgiving our brethren Supose a man that were ransomed either from death or slavery by the bounty and sufferings of another should upon his release be charged by him that so freed him in return of that kindness of his to forgive some slight debt which was owing him by some third person would you not think him the unthankfullest wretch in the world that should refuse this to so great a benefactor yet such a wretch and much worse is every revengful person Christ hath bought us out of eternal slavery and that not with corruptible things as silver and gold 1 Pet. 1. 8. But with his ownâ—most precious blood and hath earnestly recommended to us the love of our brethren and that with the most moving arguments drawn from the greatness of his love to us and if we shall obstinately refuse him in so just so moderate a demand how unspeakable a vileness is it and yet this we do downright if we keep any malice or grudg to any person whatsoever Nay farther this is not barely an unthankfulness but there is also joyned with it a horrible contempt and despising of him This Peace unity of brethren was a thing so much prized valued by him that when he was to leave the world he thought it the most pretious thing he could bequeath and therefore left it by way of legacy to his Disciples Jo. 14. 27. Peace I leave with you we use to set a great value on the slightest bequests of our dead friends to be exceeding careful not to lose them and therefore if we wilfully bangle away this so pretious a Legacy of Christ 't is a plain sign we want that Love and esteem of him which we have of our earthly friends and that we despise him as well as his Legacy The great prevailing of this sin of uncharitableness has made me stand thus long on these considerations for the subduing it God grant they may make such impression on the Reader as may be available to that purpose I shall add only this one advice that these or whatsoever other remedies against this sin must be used timely 'T is oftimes the frustrating of bodily medicines the applying them too late and 't is much oftner so in spiritual therefore if it be possible let these the like considerations be so constantly habitually fixt in thy heart that they may frame it to such meekness as may prevent all risings of rancour or revenge in thee for it is much better they should serve as armour to prevent then as balsome to cure the wound But if this passion be not yet so subdued in thee but that there will be some stirrings of it yet then be sure to take it at the very first rise and let not thy fancy chew as it were upon the injury by often rolling it in thy mind but remember betimeâ— the foregoing considerations and withal that this is a time and season of tryal to thee wherein thou mayest shew how thou hast profited in Christs School there now being an opportunity offered thee either of obeying and pleasing God by passing by this offence of thy brother or else of obeying and pleaseing Satan that lover of discord by nourishing hatred against him Remember this I say lâ—otimes before thou be enflamed for if this fire be throughly kindled it will cast such a smoak as will blind thy reason and make thee unfit to judge even in this so very plain case whet her it be better by obeying God to purchase to thy self eternally bliss or by obeying Satan eternall torments Whereas if thou put the question to thy self before this commotion and disturbance of mind 't is impossible but thy understanding must pronounce for God And then unless thy will be so perverse
those endlesse felicities which God hath promised to the charitable That is the harvest we must expect of what we sowe in these works of mercy which will be so rich as would abundantly recompence us though we should as the Apostle speaks 1 Cor. 13. 3. Bestow all our goods to feed the poor But then we must be sure we make this our sole aim and not instead of this propose to our selves the praise of men as the motive of our charity for that will rob us of the other this is expresly told us by Christ Mat. 6. They that set their hearts on the credit they shall gain with men must take that as their portion ver 3. verily I say unto you they have their reward they chose it seems rather to have men their Pay-masters then God and to them they are turn'd off that little airy praise they get from them is all the reward they must expect Ye have no reward of my Father which is in heaven ver 1. we have therefore need to watch our hearts narrowly that this desire of vain glory steal not in and befool us into that miserable exchange of a vain blast of mens breath for those substantial and eternal joyes of heaven 5. In the second place we must take care of our alms-giving in respect of the manner and in that first we must give cheerfully men usually value a smal thing that is given cheerfully and with a good heart more then a much greater that is wrung from a man with grudging and unwillingness and God is of the same mind he loves a cheerfull giver 2 Cor. 9. 7. Which the Apostle makes the reason of the foregoing exhortation of not giving grudgingly or as of necessity ver 6. And sure 't is no unreasonable thing that is herein required of us there being no duty that has to humane nature more of pleasure and delight unlesse it be where coveteousness or cruelty have quite work't out the man put a ravenous beast in his stead Is it not a most ravishing pleasure to him that hath any bowels to see the joy that a seasonable alms brings to a poor wretch how it revives and puts new spirits in him that was even sinking certainly the most sensuall creature alive knows not how to bestow his mony on any thing that shal bring him in so great a delight and therefore me thinks it should be no hard matter to give not only without grudging but even with a great deal of alacrity and cheerfulness it being the fetching in of pleasure to our selves 6. There is but one objection can be made against this and that is that the danger of impoverishing ones self by what one gives may take off that pleasure and make men either not give at all or not so cheerfully To this I answer That first were this hazard never so apparent yet it being the command of God that we shall thus give we are yet to obey cheerfully and be as well content to part with our good in pursuance of this duty as we are many times called to do upon some other In which case Christ tels us he that forsakes not all that he hath cannot be his Disciple 7. But secondly this is sure a vain supposition God having particularly promised the contrary to the Charicable that it shall bring blessings on them even in these outward things The liberal soul shall be made fat and he that watereth shall be watered also himself Prov. 11. 25. He that giveth to the poor shall not lack Prov. 28. 27. And many the like texts there are so that one may truely say this objection is grounded in direct unbelief The short of it is we dare not trust God for this giving to the poor is directly the puting our wealth into his hands He that giveeth to the poor lendeth unto the Lord Prov. 19. 17. And that too on solemn promise of repayment as it follows in that verse that which he hath given will he pay him again It is amongst men thought a great disparagment when we refuse to trust them it shews we either think them not sufficient or not honest How vile an affront is it then to God thus to distrust him nay indeed how horrid blasphemy to doubt the security of that for which he has thus expresly past his word who is Lord of all and therefore cannot be insufficient and who is the God of truth and therefore will not fail to make good his Promise Let not then that infidel fear of future want contract and shut up thy bowels from thy poor brother for though he be never likely to pay thee yet God becomes his Surety and enters bond with him and will most assuredly pay thee with encrease Therefore it is so far from being damage to thee thus to give that it is thy great advantage Any man would rather choose to put his money in some sure hand where he may both improve and be certain of it at his need then to let it lie unprofitably by him especially if he be in danger of thieves or other accidents by which he may probably loose it Now alas all that we possess is in minutely danger of losing innumerable accidents there are which may in an instant bring a rich man to beggery he that doubts this let him but read the story of Job and he will there finde an example of it And therefore what so prudent course can we take for our wealth as to put it out of the reach of those accidents by thus lending it to God where we may be sure to finde it ready at our greatest need and that too with improvement and encrease in which respect it is that the Apostle compares Alms to Seed 2 Cor. 9. 10. We know it is the nature of Seed that is sown to multiply and encrease and so does all our acts of mercy they return nor single and naked to us but bring in their sheaves with them a most plenteous bountiful harvest God deals not with our alms as we too often do with his graces wrap them up in a napkin so that they shall never bring in any advantage to us but makes us most rich returns and therefore we have all reason most cheerfully yea joyfully to set to this duty which we have such invitations to as well in respect of our own interests as our neighbours needs 8. Secondly We must give seasonably it is true indeed there are some so poor that an Alms can never come unseasonably because they alwayes want yet even to them there may be some special seasons of doing it to their greater advantage for sometimes an Alms may not only deliver a poor man from some present extremity but by the right timeing of it may set him in some way of a more comfortable subsistence afterward And for the most I presume it is a good Rule to dispence what we intend to any as soon as may be for delays are
cares of this life taking thought what I shall eat or drink or wherewithal I shall be clothed but grant that having by honest labour and industry done my part I may cheerfully commit my self to thy providence casting all my care upon thee and being careful for nothing but to be of the number of those whom thou ownest and carest for even such as keep thy Testimonies and think upon thy Commandments to do them That seeking first thy Kingdom and the righteousness thereof all these outward things may be added unto me in such a measure as thy wisdom knowes best for me grant this O Lord for Jesus Christ his sake For THANKFULNES O Most Gracious and Bountiful Lord who fillest all things living with good and expectest no other return but praise and thanksgiving let me O Lord never defraud thee of that so easie tribute but let my heart be ever filled with the sense and my mouth with the acknowledgement of thy mercies It is a joyful and a pleasant thing to be thankful O suffer me not I beseech thee to loose my part in that Divine pleasure but grant that as I dayly receive blessings from thee so I may dayly from an affectionate and devout heart offer up thanks to thee and grant that not only my lips but my life may shew forth thy praise by consecrating my self to thy service and walking in Holiness and Righteousness before thee all the days of my life through Jesus Christ my Lord and blessed Saviour For CONTRITION O Holy Lord who art a merciful embracer of true penitents but yet a consuming fire towards obstinate sinners how shall I approach thee who have so many provoking sins to inflame thy wrath and so little sincere repentance to incline thy mercy O be thou pleased to soften and melt this hard obdurate heart of mine that I may heartily bewail the iniquities of my life strike this rock O Lord that the waters may flow out even floods of tears to wash my polluted conscience my drowzy Soul hath too long slept securely in sin Lord awake it though it be with thunder and let me rather â—â—â—â— thy terrors then not feel my sin Thou sentest thy blessed Son to heal the broken hearted but Lord what will that avail me if my heart be whole O break it that it may be capable of his healing virtue and grant I beseech thee that having once tasted the bitterness of sin I may flie from it as from the face of a Serpent and bring forth fruits of repentance in amendment of life to the praise and glory of thy grace in Jesus Christ our blessed Redeemer For MEEKNES O Blessed Jesu who wast led as a sheep to the slaughter let I beseech thee that admirable example of Meekness quench in me all sparks of anger and revenge and work in me such a gentleness and calmness of Spirit as no provocations may ever be able to disturb Lord grant I may be so far from offering the least injury that I may never return the greatest any otherwise then with prayers and kindness that I who have so many talents to be forgiven by thee may never exact pence of my brethren but that putting on bowels of mercy meekness long-suffering thy peace may rule in my heart and make it an acceptable habitation to thee who art the Prince of peace to whom with the Father and holy Spirit be all honour and glory for ever For CHASTITY O Holy and Immaculate Jesus whose first descent was into the Virgins womb and who dost still love to inhabit only in pure and virgin hearts I beseech thee send thy Spirit of purity to cleanse me from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit my body O Lord is the Temple of the Holy Ghost O let me never pollute that Temple with any uncleanness And because out of the heart proceed the things that defile the man Lord grant me to keep my heart with all diligence that no impure or foul thoughts be harboured there but enable me I beseech thee to keep both body and soul pure and undefiled that so I may glorifie thee here both in my body and spirit and be glorified in both with thee hereafter For TEMPERANCE O Gracious Lord who hast in thy bounty to mankind afforded us the use of thy good creatures for our corporal refreshment grant that I may always use this liberty with thankfulness and moderation O let me never be so enslaved to that brutish pleasure of taste that my Table become a snare to me but give me I beseech thee a perfect abhorrence of all degrees of excess and let me eat and drink only for those ends and according to those measures which thou hast assigned me for health and not for luxury And Lord grant that my pursuits may be not after the meat that perisheth but after that which endureth to everlasting life that hungring and thirsting after righteousness I may be filled with thy grace here and thy glory hereafter through Jesus Christ. For CONTENTEDNES O Merciful God thy wisdom is infinite to choose thy love forward to dispence good things to us O let me always fully and intirely resign my self to thy disposals have no desires of mine own but a perfect satisfaction in thy choices for me that so in whatsoever estate I am I may be therein content Lord grant I may never look with murmuring on my own condition nor with envy on other mens And to that end I beseech thee purge my heart of all covetous affections O let me never yield up any corner of my Soul to Mammon but give me such a contempt of these fading riches that whether they increase or decrease I may never set my heart upon them but that all my care may be to be rich towards God to lay up my treasure in heaven that I may so set my affections on things above that when Christ who is my life shall appear I may also appear with him in glory Grant this O Lord for the merits of the same Jesus Christ. For DILIGENCE O Lord who hast in thy wisdom ordained that man should be born to labour suffer me not to resist that design of thine by giving my self up to sloth and idleness but grant I may so imploy my time and all other talents thou hast intrusted me with that I may not fall under the sentence of the slothful and wicked servant Lord if it be thy will make me some way useful to others that I may not live an unprofitable part of mankind but however O Lord let me not be useless to my self but grant I may give all diligence to make my calling and election sure My soul is beset with many and vigilant adversaries O let me not fold my hands to sleep in the midst of so great dangers but watch and pray that I enter not into temptation enduring hardness as a good souldier of Jesus Christ till at the last from this state of warfare thou translate me to the
and intercession 6. Lead us not into Temptation but deliver c. O LORD we have no strength against those multitudes of temptations that dayly assault us only our eyes are upon thee O be thou pleased either to restrain them or assist us and in thy faithfulness suffer us not to be tempted above that we are able but in all our temptations make us a way to escape that we be not overcome by them but may when thou shalt call us to it resist even unto blood striving against sin that being faithful unto death thou mayest give us the crown of life For thine is the Kingdom the Power c. HEAR us graciously answer our petitions for thou art the great King over all the earth whose Power is infinite and art able to do for us above all that we can ask or think and to whom belongeth the Glory of all that good thou workest in us or for us Therefore blessing honour glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne to our God for ever and ever Amen Pious EJACULATIONS Taken out of the Book of PSALMS For PARDON of SIN HAVE mercy on me O God after thy great goodness according to the multitude of thy mercies do away mine offences Wash me throughly from my wickedness and cleanse me from my sin Turn thy face from my sins and put out all my misdeeds My misdeeds prevail against me O be thou merciful unto my sins Enter not into judgement with thy servant for in thy sight shall no man living be justified For thy names sake O Lord be merciful unto my sin for it is great Turn thee O Lord and deliver my soul O save me for thy mercies sake For GRACE TEACH me to do the thing that pleaseth thee for thou art my God Teach me thy way O Lord and I will walk in thy truth O knit my heart to thee that I may fear thy name Make me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me O let my heart be sound in thy statutes that I be not ashamed Incline my heart unto thy I estimonies and not to covetousness Turn away mine eyes lest they behold vanity and quicken thou me in thy way I am a stranger upon earth O hide not thy Commandments from me Lord teach me to number my days that I may apply my heart unto wisdom For the LIGHT of Gods COUNTENANCE LORD why abhorrest thou my soul and hidest thy face from me O hide not thou thy face from me nor cast thy servant away in displeasure Thy loving kindness is better then life it self Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon me Comfort the Soul of thy servant for unto thee O Lord do I lift up my soul. THANKSGIVING I WILL always give thanks unto the Lord his praise shall ever be in my mouth Thou art my God and I will thank thee thou art my God and I will praise thee I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live I will praise my God whilest I have my being Praised be God which hath not cast out my prayer nor turned his mercy from me Blessed be the Lord God even the God of Israel which only doth wondrous things And blessed be the Name of his Majesty for ever and all the earth shall be filled with his Majesty Amen Amen For DELIVERANCE from TROUBLE BE merciful unto me O Lord be merciful unto me for my Soul trusteth in thee and under the shadow of thy wings shall be my refuge until these calamities be over-past Deliver me O Lord from mine enemies for I flie unto thee to hide me O keep my Soul and deliver me let me not be confounded for I have put my trust in thee Mine eyes are ever looking unto the Lord for he shall pluck my feet out of the net Turn thee unto me and have mercy upon me for I am desolate and in misery The sorrorws of my heart are enlarged O bring thou me out of my troubles For the CHURCH O BE favourable and gracious unto Sion build thou the walls of Jerusalem O God wherefore art thou absent from us so long Why is thy wrath so hot against the sheep of thy pasture O think upon thy Congregation whom thou hast purchased and Redeemed of old Look upon the Tribe of thine Inheritance and Mount Sion where thou hast dwelt It is time for thee Lord. to lay to thy hand for they have destroyed thy Law Arise O God and maintain thine own cause Deliver Israel O God out of all his troubles Brief Heads of Self-Examination especially before the Sacrament Collected out of the fore-going Treatise concerning the breaches of our Duty To GOD. FAITH NOT BELIEVING there is a God Not believing his Word Not believing it practically so as to live according to our belief HOPE Despairing of Gods mercy so as to neglect duty Presuming groundlesly on it whilst we go on in wilful sin LOVE Not Loving God for his own excellencies Not loving him for his goodness to us Not labouring to please him Not desiring to draw neer to him in his Ordinances Not longing to enjoy him in Heaven FEAR Not Fearing God so as to keep from offending him Fearing man above him by committing sin to shun some outward suffering TRUST Not trusting on God in dangers and disiresses Using unlawful means to bring us out of them Not depending on God for supply of our wants Immoderate care for outward things Neglecting to labour and expecting God should support us in our idleness Not looking up to God for a blessing on our honest endeavours HUMILITY Not having a high esteem of God Not submitting obediently to act his will Not patiently suffering it but murmuring at his corrections Not amending by them Not being thankful to him Not acknowledging his wisdome in choosing for us but having eager and impatient desires of our owe. HONOUR Not Honouring God by a reverend usage of the things that relate to him Behaving our selves irreverently in his house Robbing God by taking things that are consecrated to him Profaning Holy times the Lords Day and the Feasts and Fasts of the Church Neglecting to read the Holy Scriptures not marking when we do read Being careless to get knowledge of our duty chusing rather to continue ignorant then put our selves to the pains or shame of learning Placing Religion in hearing of Sermons without practising them Breaking our Vow made at Baptisme By resorting to Witches and Conjurers i. e. to the Devil By loving the pomps and vanities of the world and followlowing its sinful customes By fulfilling the lusts of the flesh Profaning the Lords Supper By comming to it ignorantly without examination contrition and purposes of new life By behaving our selves irreverently at it without devotion and spiritual affection By neglecting to keep the promises made at it Profaning Gods Name by blasphemous thoughts or discourse Giving others occasion to blaspheme him by our vile wicked lives Taking unlawful OATHS Perjury Swearing in
Flatâ—ering him in his faults Forsaking his friendship upon slight or no cause Making leagues in sin in stead of vertuous friendship SERVANTS Servants disobeying the lawful commands of their Masters Purloining their goods Carelesly wasting them Murmuring at their rebukes Idleness Eye service MASTERS Masters using servants tyrannically and cruelly Being too remiss and suffering them to neglect their duty Having no care of their souls Not providing them means of instruction in Religion Not admonishing them when they commit sins Not allowing them time and opportunity for prayer and the worship of God CHARITY Want of bowels and Charity to our neighbours Not heartily desiring their good spiritual or temporal Not loving and forgiving enemies Taking actual revenges upon them Falseness professing kindness and acting none Not labouring to do all the good we can to the soul of our neighbour Not assisting him to our power in his bodily distresses Not defending his good name when we know or believe him slandered Denying him any neighbourly office to preserve or advance his estate Not defending him from oppression when we have power Not relieving him in his poverty Not giving liberally or chearâ—ully GOING to LAW Not loving PEACE Going to Law upon slight occasions Bearing inward enmity to those we sue Not labouring to make peace among others The use of this Catalogue of sins is this Upon days of Humiliation especially before the Sacrament read them consideringly over and at every particular ask thine own heart Am I guilty of this â— And whatsoever by such Examination thou findest thy self faulty in Confess particularly and humbly to God with all the heightning circumstances which may any way increase their guilt and make serious Resolutions against every such Sin for the future after which thou â—â—ayest use this Form following O LORD I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee for my iniquities are increased over my head and my trespass is grown up even unto Heaven I have wrought all these great provocations and that in the most provoking manner they have not been only single but repeated acts of sin for O Lord of all this black Catalogue which I have now brought forth before thee how few are there which I have not often committed nay which are not become even habitual and customary to me And to this frequency I have added both a greediness and obstinacy in sinning turning into my course as the Horse rusheth into the battel doing evil with both hands earnestly yea hating to be reformed and casting thy words behinde me quenching thy Spirit within me which testified against me to turn me from my evil ways and frustrating all those outward means whether of judgement or mercy which thou hast used to draw me to thy self Nay O Lord even my repentances may be numbred amongst my greatest sins they have sometimes been feigned and hypocritical always so slâ—ght and ineffectual that they have brought forth no fruit in amendment of life but I have still returned with the dog to his vomit and the sow to the mire again and have added the breach of resolutions and vows to all my former guilts Thus O Lord I am become out of measure sinful and since I have thus chosen death I am most worthy to take part in it even in the second death the lake of fire and brimstone This this O Lord is in justice to be the poâ—tion of my cup to me belongs nothing but shame and confusion of face eternally But to thee O Lord God belongeth mercy and forgiveness though I have rebelled against thee O remember not my sins and offences but according to thy mercy think thou upon me O Lord for thy goodness Thou sentest thy Son to seek and to save that which was lost behold O Lord I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost O seek thy servant and bring me back to the Shepherd and Bishop of my Soul let thy Spirit work in me a hearty sense and detestation of all my abominations that true contrition of heart which thou hast promised not to despise And then be thou pleased to look on me to take away all iniquity and receive me graciously and for his sake who hath done nothing amiss be reconciled to me who have done nothing well wash away the guilt of my sins in his blood and subdue the power of them by his grace and grant O Lord that I may from this hour bid a final adieu to all ungodliness and worldly lusts that I may never once more cast a look toward Sodom or long after the flesh-pots of Egypt but consecrate my self intirely to thee to serve thee in Righteousness and true Holiness reckoning my self to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord and blessed Saviour This PENITENTIAL PSALM may also fitly be used PSALM 51. HAVE mercy upon me O God after thy great goodness according to the multitude of thy mercies do away mine offences Wash me throughly from my wickedness and cleanse me from my sin For I acknowledge my faults and my sin is ever before me Against thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight that thou mightest be justified in thy saying and clcer when thou art judged Behold I was shapen in wickedness and in sin hath my moâ—her conceived me But lo thou requirest truth in the inward parts and shalt make me to understand wisdom secretly Thou shalt purge me with Hysop and I shall be clean thou shalt wash me and I shall be whiter then snow Thou shalt make me hear of joy and gladness that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoycè Turn thy face from my sins and put out all my misdeeds Make me a clean heart O God and renew a right Spirit within me Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy holy Spirit from me O give me the comfort of thy help again and stablish me with thy free Spirit Then shall I teach thy ways unto the wicked and sinners shall be converted unto thee Deliver me from blood guiltinesâ— O God thou that art the God of my health and my tongue shall sing of thy righteousness Thou shalt open my lips O Lord and my mouth shall shew thy praise For thou desirest no sacrifice else would I give it thee but thou delightest not in burnt offering The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit a broken and contrite heart O God shalt thou not despise O be favourable and gracious unto Sion build thou the walls of Jerusalem Then shalt thou be pleased with the Sacrifice of righteousness with the burnt offerings and oblations then shall they offer young bullocks upon thine altar Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end Amen PRAYERS BEFORE the Receiving of the blessed SACRAMENT OMost merciful God who hast in thy great goodness prepared this spiritual feast for sick
hear me and grant I may now approach thee with such humility and contrition love devotion that thou mayest vouch safe to come unto me abide with me communicating to me thy self all the merits of thy Passion And then O Lord let no accusations of Satan or my own conscience amaze or distract me but having peace with thee let me also have peace in my self that this Wine may make glad this Bread of life may strengthen my heart enable me chearfully to run the way of thy Commandments Grant this merciful Saviour for thine own bowels compassions sake EJACULATIONS to be used at the LORDS TABLE LORD I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof I have sinned What shall I do unto thee O thou preserver of men Here recollect some of thy greatest sins If thou Lord shouldst be extream to mark what is done amiss O Lord who may abide it But with the Lord there is mercy and with him is plenteous Redemption Behold O Lord thy beloved Son in whom thou art well pleased Hearken to the cry of his blood which speaketh better things then that of Abel By his Agony and bloody Sweat by his Cross and Passion good Lord deliver me O Lamb of God which takest away the sins of the world grant me thy Peace O Lamb of God which takest away the sins of the world have mercy upon me Immediately before Receiving THOU hast said That he that eateth thy flesh and drinketh thy blood hath eternal life Behold the servant of the Lord be it unto me according to thy word At the Receiving of the Bread BY thy Crucified body deliver me from this body of death At the receiving of the Cup. O LET this blood of thine purge my conscience from dead works to serve the living God Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean O touch me and say I will be thou clean After Receiving WHAT shall I render unto the Lord for all the benefits he hath done unto me I will take the Cup of Salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing Therefore blessing honour glory and power be to him that sitteth upon the Throne and to the Lamb for ever and ever Amen I have sworn and am stedfastly purposed to keep thy righteous judgements O hold thou up my goings in thy paths that my footsteps slip not A Thanksgiving after the Receiving of the Sacrament O Thou fountain of all goodness from whom every good and perfect gift cometh and to whom all honour and glory should be returned I desire with all the most fervent and inflamed affections of a grateful heart to bless and praise thee for those inestimable mercies thou hast vouchsafed me Lord what is man that thou shouldst so regard him as to send thy beloved Son to suffer such bitter things for him But Lord what am I the worst of men that I should have any part in this attonement who have so oft despised him and his sufferings O the height and depth of this mercy of thine that art pleased to admit me to the renewing of that Covenant with thee which I have so often and so perversly broken that I who am not worthy of that dayly bread which sustains the body should be made partaker of this bread of life which nourisheth the soul and that the God of all purity should vouchsafe to unite himself to so polluted a wretch O my God suffer me no more I bâ—seech thee to turn thy grace into wantonness to make thy mercy an occasion of security but let this unspeakable love of thine constrain me to obedience that since my blessed Lord hath died for me I may no longer live unto my self but to him O Lord I know there is no concord between Christ and Belial therefore since he hath now been pleased to enter my heart O let me never permit any lust to chace him thence but let him that hath so dearly bought me still keep possession of me and let nothing ever take me out of his hand To this end be thou graciously pleased to watch over me and defend me from all assaults of my spiritual enemies but especially deliver me from my self from the treachery of my own heart which is too willing to yield it self a prey And where thou seest I am either by nature or custome most weak there do thou I beseech thee magnifie thy power in my preservation Here mention thy most dangerous temptations And Lord let my Saviours sufferings for my sins and the Vows I have now made against them never depart from my minde but let the remembrance of the one enable me to perform the other that I may never make truce with those lusts which nailed his hands pierced his side and made his soul heavy to the death But that having now anew listed my self under his banner I may fight manfully and follow the Captain of my Salvation even through a sea of blood Lord lift up my hands that hang down and my feeble knees that I faint not in this warfare O be thou my strength who am not able of my self to struggle with the slightest temptations How often have I turned my back in the day of battel How many of these Sacramental vows have I violated And Lord I have still the same unconstant deceitful heart to betray me to the breach of this O thou who art Yea and Amen in whom there is no shadow of change communicate to me I beseech thee such a stability of minde that I may no more thus start aside like a broken bow but that having my heart whole with thee I may continue stedfast in thy Covenant that not one good purpose which thy Spirit hath raised in me this day may vanish as so many have formerly done but that they may bring forth fruit unto life eternal Grant this O merciful father through the merits and mediation of my Cruâ—ified Saviour A Prayer of Intercession to be used either before or after the receiving of the Sacrament O MOST gracious Lord who so tenderly lovedst mankind as to give thy dear Son out of thy Bosome to be a propitiation for the sins of the whole word grant that the effect of this Redemption may be as universal as the design of it that it may be to the salvation of all O let no person by impenitence and wilful sin forfeit his part in it but by the power of thy grace bring all even the most obstinate sinners to repentance Inlighten all that sit in darkness all Jews Turks Infidels and Hereticks take from them all blindness hardness of heart and contempt of thy Word and so fetch them home blessed Lord unto thy fold that they may be saved among the number of the true Israelites And for all those upon whom the Name of thy Son is called grant O Lord that their conversations may
thy blessed will be done I cast my self O Lord at thy feet do with me what thou pleasest Try me as silver is tried so thou bring me out purified And Lord make even my flesh also to subscribe to this resignation that there may be nothing in me that may rebel against thy hand but that having perfectly supprest all repining thoughts I may cheerfully drink of this cup. And how bitter soever thou shalt please to make it Lord let it prove medicinal and cure all the diseases of my soul that it may bring forth in me the peaceable fruit of righteousness That so these light afflictions which are but for a moment may work for me a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory through Jesus Christ. A Thanks giving for Deliverance O BLESSED Lord who art gracious and merciful slow to anger and of great kindness and repentest thee of the evil I thankfully acknowledge before thee that thou hast not dealt with me after my sins nor rewarded me according to my iniquities My rebellions O Lord deserve to be scourged with Scorpions and thou hast corrected them only with a gentle and fatherly Rod neither hast thou suffered me to lie long under that but hast given me a timely and a grcaious issue out of my late distresses O Lord I will be glad and rejoyce in thy mercy for thou hast considered my trouble and hast known my soul in adversity Thou hast smitten and thou hast healed me O let these various methods of thine have their proper effects upon my soul that I who have felt the smart of thy chastisements may stand in awe and not sin and that I who have likewise felt the sweet refreshings of thy mercy may have my heart ravished with it and knit to thee in the firmest bands of love and that by both I may be preserved in a constant entire obedience to thee all my days through Jesus Christ. Directions for the time of Sickness WHEN thou findest thy self visited with Sickness thou art immediately to remember that it is God which with rebukes doth chasten man for sin And therefore let thy first care be to find out what it is that provokes him to smite thee and to that purpose Examine thine own heart search diligently what guilts lie there confess them humbly and penitently to God and for the greater security renew thy Repentance for all the old sins of thy former life beg most earnestly and importunately his mercy and pardon in Christ Jesus and put on sincere and zealous resolutions of forsaking every evil way for the rest of that time which God shall spare thee And that thy own heart deceive thee not in this so weighty a business it will be wisdome to send for some godly Divine not only to assist thee with his prayers but with his counsel also And to that purpose open thy heart so freely to him that he may be able to judge whether thy Repentance be such as may give thee confidence to appear before Gods dreadful Tribunal and that if it be not he may help thee what he can towards the making it so And when thou hast thus provided for thy better part thy Soul then consider thy Body also and as the Wise man saith Eccluâ— 38. 12. Give place to the Physician for the Lord hath created him Use such means as may be most likely to recover thy health but always remember that the success of them must come from God and beware of Asa's sin who sought to the Physicians and not to the Lord 2 Chro. 6. 12. Dispose also betimes of thy temporal affairs by making thy Will and setting all things in such order as thou meanest finally to leave them in and defer it not till thy sickness grow more violent for then perhaps thou shalt not have such use of thy Reason as may fit thee for it or if thou have it will be then much more seasonable to imploy thy thoughts on higher things on the world thou art going to rather then that thou art about to leave we cannot carry the things of this world with us when we go hence and it is not fit we should carry the thoughts of them Therefore let those be early dispatched that they may not disturb thee at last A Prayer for a sick Person O MERCIFUL and Righteous Lord the God of health and of sickness of life and of death I most unfeignedly acknowledg that my great abuse of those many days of strength and welfare which thou hast afforded me hath most justly deserved thy present visitation I desire O Lord humbly to accept of this punishment of mine iniquity and to bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him And O thou merciful Father who designest not the ruine but the amendment of those whom thou scourgest I beseech thee by thy grace so to sanctifie this correction of thine to me that this sickness of my body may be a means of health to my soul make me diligent to search my heart and do thou O Lord enable me to discover every accursed thing how closely soever concealed there that by the removal thereof I may make way for the removal of this punishment Heal my soul O Lord which hath sinned against thee and then if it be thy blessed will heal my body also restore the voice of joy health unto my dwelling that I may live to praise thee and to bring forth fruits of repentance But if in thy wisdom thou hast otherwise disposed if thou have determined that this sickness shall be unto death I beseech thee to fit prepare me for it give me that sincere and earnest repentance to which thou hast promised mercy and pardon wean my heart from the world and all its fading vanities and make me to gasp and pant after those more excellent and durable joys which are at thy right hand for ever Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon me and in all the pains of my body in all the agonies of my spirit let thy comforts refresh my soul and enable me patiently to wait till my change come And grant O Lord that when my earthly house of this Tabernacle is dissolved I may have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens And that for his sake who by his precious blood hath purchased it for me even Jesus Christ. A THANKSGIVING for RECOVERY O GRACIOUS Lord the God of the spirits of all flesh in whose hand my time is I praise and magnifie thee that thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption and restored me to health again it is thou alone O Lord that hast preserved my life from destruction thou hast chastned and corrected me but thou hast not given me over unto death O let this life which thou hast thus graciously spared be wholy consecrated to thee Behold O Lord I am by thy mercy made whole O make me strictly careful
of my heart and my portion for ever I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is far better Lord I gâ—oan earnestly desiring to be cloathed upon with that house from heaven I desire to put off this my tabernacle O be pleased to receive me into everlasting habitations Bring my soul out of prison that I may give thanks unto thy name Lord I am here to wrestle not only with flesh and blood but with principalities and powers spiritual wickedness O take me from these tents of Kedar into the heavenly Jerusalem where Satan shall be utterly trodden under my feet I cannot here attend one minute to thy service without distraction O take me up â—o stand before thy Throne where I shall serve thee day and night I am here in heaviness through many tribulations O receive me into that place of rest where all tears shall be wiped from my eyes where there shall be no more death nor sorrow nor crying nor pain I am here in a state of banishment and absence from the Lord O take me where I shall for ever behold thy face and follow the Lamb whither soever he goeth I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness OBlessed Jesu who hast loved me and washed me from my sins in thine own blood receive my soul. Into thy hands I commend my Spirit for thou hast redeemed me O Lord thou God of truth Come Lord Jesu come quickly PRAYERS for their use who Mourn in secret for the PUBLICK CALAMITIES c. Psalm 74. O God wherefore art thou absent from us so long why is thy wrath so hot against the sheep of thy pasture c. Psal. 79. O God the Heathen are come into thine inheritance thy holy temple have they defiled and made Jerusalem an heap of stones c. Psal. 80. Hear O thou shepherd of Israel thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep shew thy self also thou that sittest upon the Cherubims c. A Prayer to be used in these times of Calamity O Lord God to whom vengeance belongeth I desire humbly to confess before thee both on my own behalf and that of this Nation that these many years of calamity we have groaned under are but the just yea mild returns of those many more years of our provocations against thee and that thy present which is but the due punishment of thy abused mercy O Lord thou hast formerly abounded to us in blessings above all people of the earth Thy candle shined upon our heads and we delighted our selves in thy great goodness peace was within our walls and plenteousness within our palaces there was no decay no leading into captivity and no complaining in our streets but we turned this grace into wantonness we abused our peace to security our plenty to riot and Luxury and made those good things which should have endeared our hearts to thee the occasions of estranging them from thee Nay O Lord thou gavest us yet more precious mercies thou wert pleased thy self to pitch thy Tabernacle with us to establish a pure and glorious Church among us and give us thy word to be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our paths but O Lord we have made no other use of that light then to conduct us to the chambers of death we have dealt proudly and not hearkened to thy comandments and by rebelling against the light have purchased to our selves so much the heavier portion in the outer darkness And now O Lord had the overflowings of thy vengeance been answerable to that of our sin we had long since been swept away with a swift destruction and there had been none of us alive at this day to implore thy mercy But thou art a gracious God slow to anger and hast proceeded with us with much patience and long-suffering thou hast sent thy judgements to awake us to repentance and hast also allowed us space for it But alas we have perverted this mercy of thine beyond all the former we return not to him that smiteth us neither do we seek the Lord we are slidden back by a perpetual backfliding no man repenteth him of his wickedness or â—aith what have I done 'T is true indeed we fear the rod we dread every suffering so that we are ready to buy it off with the foulest sin but we fear not him that hath appointed it but by a wretched obstinacy harden our necks against thee and refuse to return And now O God what balm is there in Gilead that can cure us who when thou wouldest heal us will not be healed we know thou hast pronounced that there is no peace to the wicked and how shall we then pray for peace that still retain our wickedness This this O Lord is our sorest disease O Give us Medicines to heal this sickness heal our souls and then we know thou canst soon heal our land Lord thou hast long spoken by thy word to our ears by thy judgments even to all our senses but unless thou speak by thy Spirit to our hearts all other calls will still be uneffectual O send out this voice and that a mighty voice such as may awake us out of this Lethargy thou that didst call Lazarus out of the grave O be pleased to call us who are dead yea putrified in trespasses and sins and make us to awake to righteousness And though O Lord our frequent resistances even of those inward calls have justly provoked thee to give us up to the lusts of our own heart yet O thou boundless ocean of mercy who art good not only beyond what we can deserve but what we can wish do not withdraw the influence of thy grace and take not thy holy spirit from us Thou wert found of those that sought thee not O let that act of mercy be repeated to us who are so desperately yet so insensibly sick that we cannot so much as look after the Physitian and by how much our case is the more dangerous so much the more sovereign remedies do thou apply Lord help us and consider not so much our unworthiness of thy aid as our irremediable ruine if we want it save Lord or we perish eternally To this end dispense to us in our temporal interest what thou seest may best secure our spiritual if a greater degree of outward misery will tend to the curing our inward Lord spare not thy rod but strike yet more sharply cast out this devil though with never so much foaming tearing But if thou seest that some return of mercy may be most likely to melt us O be pleased so far to condescend to our wretchedness as to afford us that and whether by thy sharper or thy gentler methods bring us home to thy self And then O Lord we know thy hand is not shortned that it cannot save when thou hast delivered us from our sins thou canst and wilt deliver
us from our troubles O shew us thy mercy and grant us thy salvation that being redeemed both in our bodies and spirits we may glorifie thee in both in a chearful obedience and praise the Name of our God that hath dealt wonderfully with us through Jesus Christ our Lord. A Prayer for This Church O Thou great God of recompences who turnest a fruitful land into barrenness for the wickedness of them that dwell therein thou hast most justly executed that fatal sentence on this Church which having once been the perfection of beauty the joy of the whole earth is now become a scorn and derision to all that are round about her O Lord what could have been done to thy vineyard that thou hast not done in it and since it hath brought forth nothing but wilde grapes it is perfectly just with thee to take away the hedge thereof and let it be eaten up But O Lord though our iniquities testifie against us yet do thou it for thy Names sake for our backslidings are many we have sinned against thee O the hope of Israel the Saviour thereof in time of trouble why shouldst thou be as a stranger in the land as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night Why shouldst thou be as a man astonied as a mighty man that cannot save Yet thou O Lord art in the midst of us and we are called by thy Name leave us not deprive us of what outward enjoyment thou pleasest take from us the opportunities of our luxury and it may be a mercy but O take not from us the means of our reformation for that is the most direful expression of thy wrath And though we have hated the light because our deeds were evil yet O Lord do not by withdrawing it condemn us to walk on still in darkness but let it continue to shine till it have guided our feet into the way of peace O Lord arise stir up thy strength come help us and deliver not the soul of thy Turtle Dove this disconsolate Church unto the multitude of the enemy but help her O God and that right early But if O Lord our rebellions have so provoked thee that the Ark must wander in the wilderness till all this murmuring generation be consumed yet let not that perish with us but bring it at last into a Canaan and let our more innocent posterity see that which in thy just judgement thou denrest to us In the mean time let us not cease to bewail that desolation our sins have wrought to think upon the stones of Ston and pity to see her in the dust nor ever be ashamed or afraid to own her in her lowest and most persecuted condition but esteem the reproach of Christ greater riches then the treasures of AEgypt and so approve our constancy to this our afflicted Mother that her blessed Lord and Head may own us with mercy when he shall come in the glory of thee his father with the holy Angels Grant this merciful Lord for the same Jesus Christ his sake A Prayer for the Peace of the Church LORD Jesus Christ which of thine Almightiness madest all creatures both visible and invisible which of thy godly wisdome governest and settest all things in most goodly order which of thine unspeakable goodness keepest defendest and furtherest all thing which of thy deep mercy restorest the decayed renewest the fallen raisest the dead vouchsafe we pray thee at last to cast down thy countenance upon thy well beloved Spouse the Church but let it be that amiable and merciful countenance wherewith thou pacifiest all things in heaven in earth and whatsoever is above heaven and under the earth vouchsafe to cast upon us those tender and pitiful eyes with which thou didst once behold Peter that great Shepherd of thy Church and forthwith he remembred himself and repented with which eyes thou once didst view the scattered multitude and wert moved with compassion that for lack of a good Shepherd they wandered as sheep dispersed and strayed a sunder Thou seest O good Shepherd what sundry sorts of Wolves have broken into thy sheep cotes so that if it were possible the very perfect persons should be brought into error thou seest with what winds with what waves with what storms thy silly ship is tosl d thy ship wherein thy little flock is in peril to be drowned And what is now left but that it utterly sink and we all perish Of this tempest and storm we may thank our own wickedness and sinful living we discern it well and confess it we discern thy righteousness and we bewail our unrighteousness but we appeal to thy Mercy which surmounteth all thy works we have now suffered much punishment being scourged with so many wars consumed with such losses of goods shaken with so many floods and yet appears there no where any Haven or Port unto us being thus tired and forlorn among so strange evils but still every day more grievous punishments and more seem to hang over our heads We complain not of thy sharpness most tender Saviour but we discern here also thy mercy forasmuch as much grievouser plagues we have deserved But O most merciful Jesus we beseech thee that thou wilt not consider nor weigh what is due for our deservings but rather what becometh thy mercy without which neither the Angels in heaven can stand sure before thee much less we silly vessels of clay Have mercy on us O Redeemer which art easie to be intreated not that we be worthy of thy mercy but give thou this glory unto thine own Name Suffer not those which either have not known thee or do envy thy glory continually to triumph over us and say Where is their God where is their Redeemer where is their Saviour where is their Bridegroom that they thus boast on These opprobrious words redound unto thee O Lord while by our evils men weigh and esteem thy goodness they think we be forsaken whom they see not amended Once when thou sleptst in the ship and a tempest suddenly arising threatned death to all in the Ship thou awokest at the outcry of a few Disciples and straightway at thine Almighty word the waters couched the winds fell the storm was suddenly turned into a great calm the dumb waters knew their makers voice Now in this far greater tempest wherein not a few mens bodies be in danger but innumerable souls we beseech thee at the cry of thy holy Church which is in danger of drowning that thou wilt awake So many thousands of men do cry Lord save us we perish the tempest is past mans power it is thy word that must do the deed Lord Jesu Only say thou with a word of thy mouth Cease O tempest and forthwith shall the desired calm appear Thou wouldst have spared so many thousands of most wicked men if in the City of Sodom had been found but ten good men Now here be so â—any thousands of men which love the glory of